Gone are the days when brands dismissed influencers as insignificant or “just a phase.”
Now, one of the first marketing tactics early-stage founders pursue is finding an influencer partner that can elevate their brand. That’s actually why I started my agency, Hey Influencers, to help founders like you pair up with the right influencer for their brand because while
There are certainly plenty of influencers to choose from, but finding the right one(s) is tricky.
In this article, I will take you through the six ways that I have used to help find influencers for my four multi-million dollar ecommerce brands, which all had influencer marketing at the heart of their rise to prominence.
Short on Time? Here Are the Find Influencers Takeaways
- Take advantage of the “Similar To” or “Related Accounts” feature: Use this feature to discover one perfect influencer and then treat that as your starting point.
- Check who the influencer is following: Use an influencer’s follower list to find a huge list of other influencers who share attributes similar to theirs.
- See who the influencer is friends with: Influencers love spending time with their peers because influencer-to-influencer collaboration is one of the fastest ways to grow your own following on social media through cross-promotion.
- Execute an influencer cluster campaign: Gather a group of influencers who are drawn together or interconnected for a reason.
- Related companies and competitors: Which influencers are other companies within your niche working with, and why? Does it seem to be working for them?
- Lean on hashtags: Influencers often appear in the Top Post section of hashtags, and it’s a good way to see how they identify themselves through their posts.
6 Ways to Find Influencers for Your Brand
Here are the six ways I find perfect influencers for my brand.
1. The “Similar To” or “Related Accounts” Feature
The first way to find influencers for your brand, and one of my go-to’s, is to use the similar to or related accounts function on social platforms.
This is often called different things on different platforms, but on Instagram, it’s called “Suggestions for You.”
It’s the little arrow dropdown to the right when you’re following someone, or it’ll come up automatically when you follow somebody new.
You can use this feature to discover one perfect influencer and then treat that as your starting point.
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2. Who the Influencer Is Following
From there, you can use the influencer’s follower list to find other influencers who share similar attributes according to the social platform.
To get the best results, I would suggest you start a brand new Instagram account, as your current account is likely already getting shown specific pages based on your previous activity.
So, a new account will provide a clean list of influencers to reach out to. Again, in terms of finding one perfect influencer to find the rest, it’s good to have a look at who your influencer is following outside of their friends and celebrities, as these will often be accounts in the same niche.
3. Who the Influencer Is Friends With
Taking this a step further, a third way to work forward from our ideal influencer is to do research on other influencers they’re friends with or hanging out with.
Influencers love spending time with other influencers, not only because they’re friends and have similar interests or attend the same events but because influencer-to-influencer collaboration is one of the fastest ways to grow your own following on social media through cross-promotion.
To do this, we can look at who’s in their photos and monitor their comments. What we’re looking for in our influencer marketing campaigns is audience overlap.
4. Influencer Cluster Campaign
Next (and one of my absolute favorite influencer marketing campaigns) is what I call an influencer cluster campaign.
I call this a cluster because it is a group of influencers who are drawn together or interconnected for a reason. This reason could be their location, their friendship circle, their family, their niche, or their activities.
One common misconception I see when speaking to entrepreneurs is that they want to see less overlap to ensure they’re reaching more people, but people remember things through repetition, so crossover audiences can actually be extremely beneficial.
5. Related Companies and Competitors
The next option to look for your ideal influencer is to assess what other companies are doing. Which influencers are other companies within your niche working with, and why? Does it seem to be working for them?
Keep an eye on these companies’ campaigns and collaborations. Something to note here is that this doesn’t necessarily have to be in terms of direct competitors but rather companies that you aspire to be like or ones you share a target audience with.
6. Hashtags, People, and Places
Moving onto hashtags, it’s important to conduct hashtag research within your niche to effectively use this technique to discover influencers.
Similar to account suggestions, hashtags on Instagram have a related section where you can find hashtags that are related to the ones that you were searching for.
Start broad, and then get more niche. Influencers will often appear in the “Top Post” section of hashtags, and it’s a good way to see how they identify themselves through their posts.
You can also look at location-based hashtags if you’re looking for specific influencers in a particular city, country, or region
Keep Learning: How to Make Influencer Partnerships Last from an Industry Pro
It’s Time to Get Your Brand Noticed
Now that you know how to find the best influencers to get your brand noticed, it’s time to turn that new traffic into sales.
Fortunately, you can learn everything you need to know about the entire ecommerce funnel within foundr+, which contains a personalized learning pathway with 30+ courses and 1,000+ lessons led by top instructors like me!
As a five-time multi-millionaire entrepreneur, I have plenty of proven experience that I can pass on to help your business achieve its goals.
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